英语流行话题阅读-单词5500 unit001

Retrosexual Man

This is the story of how my husband got mugged at the chemist's. It wasn't his fault. In certain matters, he is as innocent as a newborn baby and should not be allowed to roam around unsupervised at cosmetics² counters. In other words, he's a genuine guy.

Genuine guys are sometimes known as retrosexuals, to distinguish them from metrosexuals, who are mean with the good taste of gay men, only they're straight. Metrosexuals are particular about theie grooming⁴ and great consumers of men's cosmetic¹ products. They use hair gel. Retrosexuals are scared of hair gel.

Secretly I've always thought my husband could stand to be just a little bit more metro³. Sometimes I buy him fancy shaving cream and leave it suggestively on his side of sink. He never gets the hint. He prefers a ten-second dry shave with a plastic disposable razor and toilet paper to stanch⁵ the wounds.

From time to time my husband's retrosexuality bothers me. He can't understand why it's time to paint the kitchen when we just painted it 9 years ago. He doesn't grasp why we need expensive blinds on the kitchen windows when we leave permanently⁶ rolled up. He's baffled that my haircuts cost ten times more than his do, and he thinks massages⁷ are a waste fo time. There're many things on which we'll never see eye to eye.

But there're advantages to my husband's retrosexual orientation⁸, and they are large. For example, being completely indifferent to appearance, a retrosexual will never compain that you're putting on weight. This is one of the foundation stones of a good marriage. Also, it's easy to impress him with your culinary skills. My husband is so grateful to get out of kitchen duty, he brags⁹ about my cooking even though it's usually quite lousy. He is happy to do certain household tasks, like garbage duty and replacing light bulbs. He knows it's his job to talk to plumbers¹⁰ and electricians. We have lapsed¹¹ into tired gender¹² stereotypes¹³. We don't care. We only wish there were a third gender to clean the kitty litter.

I blame myself for the mugging at the chemist's. I never shlould have let him to go alone. Something similar would have happened if I'd wandered into an electronics store and tried to buy a fancy new TV. The chance of a good outcome is remote.

The trouble began when he noticed his feet were dry and itchy. He blames his new socks. Off he went to the chemist to get something to rub on them. He was excited when he got home. " This will do the trick", he said and showed me a small bottle. According to the label, the ingredients included Vichy thermal-spa water from France, which explains why th bottle cost $43.

" You've been mugged ", I said. He didn't know he could have got exactly what he needed ( minus the Vichy water) for $3.99 to reat his itchy feet.

Naturally I teased him ever since. But actually I have no interest in men who are interested in skin care. I'm happy to let them worry about oil level in the car. Some might call this sexist . I call it a sensible division of labor¹⁴. And it's a chief benefit of marriage.

1 cosmetic   

n.化妆品；adj.化妆用的；装门面的；装饰性的

参考例句：

• These changes are purely cosmetic.这些改变纯粹是装饰门面。
• Laughter is the best cosmetic,so grin and wear it!微笑是最好的化妆品，所以请尽情微笑吧！

2 cosmetics   

n.化妆品

参考例句：

• We sell a wide range of cosmetics at a very reasonable price. 我们以公道的价格出售各种化妆品。
• Cosmetics do not always cover up the deficiencies of nature. 化妆品未能掩饰天生的缺陷。

3 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

4 grooming   

n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发

参考例句：

• You should always pay attention to personal grooming. 你应随时注意个人仪容。
• We watched two apes grooming each other. 我们看两只猩猩在互相理毛。

5 stanch   

v.止住（血等）；adj.坚固的；坚定的

参考例句：

• Cuttlebone can be used as a medicine to stanch bleeding.海螵蛸可以入药，用来止血。
• I thought it my duty to help stanch these leaks.我认为帮助堵塞漏洞是我的职责。

6 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

7 massages   

按摩，推拿( massage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At present the doctor is giving him daily massages to help restore the function of his limbs. 目前医生每天在给他按摩，帮助他恢复腿臂的功能。
• His father massages his nose and chin. 他爸爸揉了揉鼻子和下巴。

8 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

9 brags   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He constantly brags about how well he plays football. 他老是吹嘘自己足球踢得多么好。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• \"I don't care to listen to your brags.\" \"我没有兴趣听你吹了！ 来自飘（部分）

10 plumbers   

n.管子工，水暖工( plumber的名词复数 )；[美][口]（防止泄密的）堵漏人员

参考例句：

• Plumbers charge by the hour for their work. 水管工人的工作是以小时收费的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Plumbers, carpenters, and other workmen finished the new house quickly. 管道工、木工及其他工匠很快完成了这幢新房子。 来自辞典例句

11 lapsed   

adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He had lapsed into unconsciousness. 他陷入了昏迷状态。
• He soon lapsed into his previous bad habits. 他很快陷入以前的恶习中去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

13 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。